


Falling Down

by afrocurl



Category: Veronica Mars (TV), Veronica Mars - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-06-23
Updated: 2006-06-23
Packaged: 2017-10-08 16:05:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/77392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afrocurl/pseuds/afrocurl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Logan and Veronica have some <em>quality time</em> with Lamb after "the night." Set during <i>Not Pictured</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Falling Down

  
There were very few things Veronica and Logan looked forward to—speaking to Sheriff Lamb was not one of them. Both of their experiences with him previously had left sour tastes in their mouths, and another _invitation_ to the office seemed unavoidable at the moment. The events of Graduation night were still fresh and raw in both of their minds and neither of them was really ready to talk about what happened at the Neptune Grand. It couldn't be helped if Logan and Veronica wanted to move past those events, though.  
   
Logan was painfully aware that the night before, Veronica had lain across his lap, thinking that her entire world—her father—had been blown up by the boy who raped her two and half years earlier. He was equally aware that his own asshole of a father had been murdered after being exonerated of killing his first girlfriend. He knew that Veronica was in no way ready to really talk about what had taken place on the roof, but Lamb was already breathing down everyone's neck connected to Cassidy and Aaron—namely Dick, Mac, Kendall, Veronica and himself. Media attention brought out the _best_ in Sheriff Lamb, Logan thought.  
   
Logan laughed internally at the thought of Lamb actually doing his job for once, given how little Lamb had done to give Logan's case the full attention it deserved earlier in the year.   
   
As much as Logan's thoughts were focusing on Lamb, he suddenly realized that Veronica was going to need all the support possible during her interview. He had still been staying on the couch at her apartment, while the Grand had been overrun with every tabloid reporter from Los Angeles to Paris.  
   
"Veronica, are you going to be ok with Lamb this afternoon?" he asked quietly as he tried to busy himself around the small apartment. He had become surprisingly comfortable with the space in the last few days. As much as he still felt like an outsider in the world of Keith and Veronica Mars, both of his hosts had done everything possible to avoid too many awkward moments.  
   
"I'll be fine, Logan. Lamb doesn't get to me that easily anymore." Veronica wasn't sure if Logan needed the back story of the time when she was still scared of Don Lamb, but she didn't want to talk about it now. She needed to be strong when she rehashed the story of that December night, and thinking back on how Lamb wanted her to "see the wizard," was a bit too much for her right now.   
   
Veronica realized that Logan was all too aware of her actions the last few days. After being excited about graduating and taking her trip to New York, she'd soon withdrawn herself from Keith, and to a lesser extent, from Logan. Although his support following the night on the roof, had meant the world to her she felt awkward around Logan. The Alterna-Prom was still fresh on her mind, and no amount of hero-saving was going to erase the memory of forgotten words and a broken heart.  
   
Being forced to occupy the same space with Logan given the last time he had been in her apartment, was hard enough, but the added knowledge of how their relationship had changed over the years, was almost too much for Veronica to take. Keith had spent every waking moment around Veronica, and she felt like she was being suffocated by his presence. Logan only made things worse. Instead of having one man around the apartment constantly looking after her, she had her ex-boyfriend hovering over her as well.   
   
Before Veronica was able to revel in the awkward silence between them, she looked at her cell phone and realized that they needed to get to the Sheriff's Station.

 

   
Logan's interview was first, due to Aaron's murder attracting much more media attention than that of Cassidy's murderous streak and subsequent suicide. Lamb was always one for attracting attention, and this was no different.  
   
"So chip--You were on the roof of the Grand when you father was shot, correct?"  
   
"Yes, Lamb. I already told you all that in small comprehendible details, when I saw you earlier. Nothing has changed in the last two days since Aaron was shot and Cassidy blew up the lovable Major Goodman. So what seems to be the problem, officer?"  
   
"I don't believe you, Echolls, that's the problem."  
   
"Why does that not surprise me?" Logan snarked. He looked straight through Lamb, and stared towards the two-way mirror. He knew that no one was on the other side to protect him from the Sheriff, but it didn't stop him to hope all the same.  
   
"Because you have brains—that's why. Not that you ever put it to work for something useful…"  
   
"Really, Sheriff? Are you sure I don't need to make a trip to see the wizard, for that gift?"  
   
Lamb looked at Logan as if he'd seen a ghost. "What did you say?"  
   
"I said: I've been fortunate enough, to not have to see the Wizard. You are the wizard, right?"  
   
"You may have been fortunate enough not to see the Wizard, but that doesn't mean it can't happen later, chip," Lamb huffed. "You haven't said anything _useful_, and I can tell you aren't going to."  
   
"Perceptive you are, Sheriff. It amazes me that the citizens of Balboa Country can't see past your façade in November."  
   
"Really, now, Echolls. You're the one talking to me about façades. I'm not the one who willingly called Veronica Mars after she'd suspected you of murder."  
   
"Right, but, unlike you, Veronica can articulate her problems after the fact. You just happen to hold grudges to fluster your interviewees. Find some new material, by the way. That issue was _so_ last year. Living in the now is _the-in-thing_, Sheriff."

  
Lamb, physically flustered, stood up from his chair, and quickly stormed out of the room. Logan smirked as Lamb left—Round one: Logan.  
 

 

   
Lamb sat in his office for ten minutes before calling Veronica into the interrogation room. He wondered how much Veronica had already told Logan about his interview techniques. Whatever information Logan had, he was sure it had come from Veronica.   
   
"That little bitch," and with new resolve Lamb walked out of his office with the intent of breaking Veronica Mars.  
   
"So Veronica, before Cassidy jumped off the hotel roof, he admitted to planting a bomb on the bus, killing Curly Moran and raping you?"  
   
"Yes, Deputy. He admitted to all of it, and I physically watched him blow up Major Goodman's plane with his cell phone."  
   
"I have no issue with that part of your story, Veronica. What I do wonder about, is why Cassidy admitted to all of that to _you_?"  
   
"Because, I, unlike you, can figure out who committed a crime. I've already done your job twice before, don't you remember? Abel Koontz might have died in prison if it wasn't for me! I had to figure out that Cassidy raped me since you were no help on one of my previous visits" she screeched out.  
   
"Ouch, Veronica. That hurt. Are you five now?"  
   
"If I were, does that mean I would get a gold star from you?" she asked eagerly, trying to calm herself down after realizing how much Lamb had screwed up before.  
   
"Anything for you Veronica; Anything."  
   
"Really," she squeaked out with as much fake interest as she could muster. "Can I get it now? I want to have a souvenir of our last conversation."  
   
"You think this is the last time we're going to talk? Fat chance, Mars."  
   
"Lamb, there are things that have to change in the world. You, for one, need to sleep with someone other than Madison Sinclair, and _I_ need to learn to keep myself out of situations where I find myself in harms way," she spoke matter-of-factly, with her thumbs pointing to herself for dramatic effect.  
   
Lamb looked at her as if she was crazy, which, he thought, she probably was, but then he thought back to what Logan has said earlier. Her snarky ways must have given plenty of ammunition, regardless of her target—Lamb and Logan included.   
   
Lamb tried to remember a time when Veronica was younger and she actually looked at Lamb with some interest and admiration. He remembered a day, when Lianne had walked into the office with Veronica, looking for Keith. He was new on the job, and desperate for Keith's approval.  
   
_"Hi! Who are you?" he asked._  
   
_"My name is Veronica; my daddy is the Sheriff."_  
   
_"Oh—you're my boss's daughter. I've heard nothing but bad things about you."_  
   
_"That's not true!" she squealed. "My daddy loves me." The tiny blonde girl started to pout. _  
   
_Lamb gave her a strange look and Veronica's response had been to start crying._  
   
_"Oh. Veronica—don't cry. __I can't have your dad being mad at me. It's my first week on the job." Lamb had tried to calm down the little blonde girl._  
   
_"Ok—I want a star like yours, though. It's shiny." The tears forgotten on the spot, as she stared at the Sheriff's badge on his chest. At this moment Lamb was thankful the children had short attention spans._  
   
_"Anything for you, Veronica." He walked over to his desk, opened one of the drawers and picked out one shiny gold Sheriff Star. He took it off the wax paper, and handed it to Veronica. "Now you want to make sure that the sticker goes over your heart, like mine. That way you look like a real Sheriff."_  
   
_She nodded, without saying anything and put the sticker on her shirt and left him standing in the room, proudly searching for her dad._  
   
"Anything else, Duputy?" The tiny blonde said with an annoyed tone. Lamb woke from his daydream.  
   
"No. I'll be right back, Veronica. I'll even bring you that sticker."  
   
"Thanks, Deputy!" she sang, as she watched him leave the interrogation room.  
   
He returned a minute later with the coveted sticker, and let her leave after she placed the gold star on her chest.  
   
Another wasted interview, Lamb thought, as Veronica left the room. He was really losing his touch.  
 

 

   
As she walked out of the interrogation room, Veronica had a huge smile on her face, proudly displaying the large golden sheriff's star on her chest.  
   
"What? Are you five, Veronica?"  
   
"Only when I need to be—and today is one of those days," she sighed heavily. Lamb's question about her ability to solve the bus crash had fazed her, which she obviously wouldn't admit to anyone.  
   
"Was Lamb too much for you to handle today?"  
   
"When is Lamb _ever_ too much for me to handle? I didn't get told to see the Wizard, if that's what you mean, but Lamb's still an ass."  
   
"When is Lamb not an ass?  
   
"Good point. Can we get out of here? This place is giving me the creeps."  
   
"Sure. Where to?"  
   
"Anywhere but here."  
   
With that, Logan wrapped his arm around her waist, and wondered how hard the interview had been for her. She looked so strong, but as soon as they exited the office, her knees buckled and she stumbled. It didn't take much effort to hold her up, but he wished she hadn't fallen at all.   
   
Logan didn't know if he was strong enough to keep them both afloat while they dealt with the fallout. The Veronica he knew would never be so weak, but as he looked at her face, a smile crept up when he realized that she was staring proudly at her gold star.  
   
**Note, the Second:** my item was a gold star sticker and my lyric was "Just let me hold you and we'll both fall down" from _Ever the Same_. 

  


**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [](http://community.livejournal.com/vmlyricfic/profile)[**vmlyricfic**](http://community.livejournal.com/vmlyricfic/) challenge.  Many thanks go out to [](http://chaotic4life.livejournal.com/profile)[**chaotic4life**](http://chaotic4life.livejournal.com/) for the beta!  My challenge items are listed in another note after the fic.


End file.
